April 21, 2000

MASS MoCA Feast Event Features Vietnamese Cuisine plus The Wedding Banquet

April 21, 2000 (North Adams, MA) MASS MoCA combines feast, film, and fun with their Feast Your Eyes event on Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 pm. A cooking demonstration by cookbook author Corinne Trang (Authentic Vietnamese Cooking) will be followed by a screening of the seductively hilarious film The Wedding Banquet. A personal sampler of Vietnamese specialties to enjoy during the film will complete the "feast".

Former Saveur magazine test-kitchen director Corinne Trang will demonstrate Vietnamese recipes from her new cookbook Authentic Vietnamese Cooking. Her elegant yet concise personal style will make this exotic and mysterious cuisine simple for even the novice cook. The child of a French mother and Cambodian-born Chinese father, with a broad knowledge of Asian cuisine, Trang is the classic embodiment of Vietnam.

Vietnamese cooking is healthy and light with most recipes based on fresh ingredients and herbs, that are sautˇed, grilled, or steamed. For centuries, Vietnam had been influenced by Chinese, Indian, French, Russian, and American traditions, creating the ultimate "fusion" food. The mid- 20th century war created a Vietnamese diaspora and Vietnamese food was once again absorbed, adapted, and refined across the world. America encountered its first taste of it in small, family- run, restaurants that popped up as refugees settled here, and now, sophisticated Vietnamese cooking is among the most popular of Asian cuisines.

Chinese-American writer/director/producer Ang Lee's film The Wedding Banquet tells the story of gay Taiwanese immigrant Wei-Tung (Winston Chao) who, to appease his parents, arranges a marriage with a poor Chinese woman, Wei-Wei, who is in need of a green card. The fun starts when his parents insist upon traveling to the United States for the wedding and throwing a lavish banquet for the couple. Wei-Tung and his American lover Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein) frantically purge their apartment of any evidence of their lifestyle. Wei-Wei (May Lin) makes the mistake of falling for her husband, which creates growing jealousy between herself and Simon while the three try to pull off a grand charade in front of hundreds of friends and family. The New York Times calls the film "delightful, charming and audacious".

The Feast series is sponsored by Philip Morris Companies, Inc.

Tickets for Feast Your Eyes are $15. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office at 87 Marshall St. in North Adams from 10 am until 4 pm, Tuesday through Sunday. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during box office hours or purchased on-line at www.massmoca.org.